Friday, April 15, 2016

MP-11NR Ramjet

Ugh, another Seeker mold. It's funny that I would have that type of reaction to the reuse of a mold after all of the reuses of the Lamborghini mold that I eagerly snatch up without hesitation. Then again, I've never really been a fan of the Masterpiece Seeker mold. The lack of waist articulation, the fact that every time I pick up a Seeker in my case, the freaking torso lifts up all add up to a figure that just doesn't appeal to me for the most part. Why do I keep buying Seeker mold figures? Because they look so damn nice.

Out of the box, Ramjet is a stunner. Many people prefer the iGear versions of the Coneheads, but, in my opinion, their heads are way too small. MP-11NR's head is in just the right proportion. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the transformation sequence with the cockpit - it actually twists during transformation.

Poseability isn't something that Seeker's are known for, but I think I did the best I could with these pics. Then again, I'm sure there will be tons of better poses out there. I don't put a lot of time in trying to achieve poses with the Seekers. They're just too fiddly for me. The large wings actually helped with some of the poses that I tried. They offered a bit of stability.

I will say that I got fascinated with how Ramjet is able to turn his head. I mean, that's just a standard feature now, but I really got into it. Possibly 95% of the pictures I initially took were just of Ramjet turning his head. Part of me wants to say that I'm joking, but I'm not. After decades of having a Ramjet that couldn't turn his head, I got stuck on it with this guy. Sure, every Ramjet released after 1995 is capable of doing such a simple thing, but they don't have the right stupid look on their face.

Yeah, I love the stupid look on Ramjet's face. It's perhaps the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time. Ramjet was always a bit of a dullard thug on the show, and the Masterpiece sculpt just really nails it. I've seen a fair bit of outrage online over the sculpt, and it usually boils down to "He looks stupid!" That's the point. Ramjet looks stupid because he is stupid. Great job, Takara on capturing the look.

Ramjet transforms into a jet. I know that this is shocking to most, since Seekers are usually known for transforming into recliners, but Ramjet breaks from tradition. At any rate, I really like the balance Takara found with the missiles. Ramjet still sports the skinnier rays while in robot mode, but shells can be placed over them while in jet mode to give Ramjet the fat missiles. They can also be added while in robot mode if you're looking for a more toy accurate look.

Ramjet seems to beset with quality control issues. Just recently, Takara issued a recall on the figure to fix an issues where the left and right shoulders were swapped. I've also read reports of landing gears falling off and just over poor quality. Luckily, mine arrived in pretty good shape. The shoulders are fine, as is the landing gear. There is a spot where the left wing tabs in where the paint flaked off a bit, but it isn't major.

Here's a horrible shot of all of the Seekers together. I didn't feel like pulling out the Wal-Mart MP-03 deco, or the original MP-03. I do have the Skywarp MP-03 figure in this shot, however. Sadly, Skywarp is the great miss in my collection. I passed on him for unknown reasons, and I've been kicking myself over it ever since.

The rest of my MP-11 mold figures seem to feel the same way as they've turned their backs on him.